A history of Pickford Area Pioneer Families Daniel Morrison

BAWKS

Robert and Isabell Bawks and their son, HERBERT, came to Pickford, Michigan, in 1879 from Kincarden, Ontario. Their first home for one summer was on the William Blair farm one-half mile south of Pickford. The family consisted of three girls: ESTHER (Mrs. Robert William), MARY (Mrs. Norman McDowell) (deceased), and NELLIE (Mrs. William J. Crawford); and six boys: HERBERT (deceased), WILLIAM (deceased), GORDON (deceased 1969), ORVILLE, FORD and FRANK. All of the boys were farmers in this area.

HERBERT BAWKS (deceased 1950) married Nina Patton (1885-1928) and they lived at Rockview most of their lives. They had twelve children, seven of whom are still living: Clifford, Ray, Effie, Violet, Vern, Robert, and Dean.

Clifford married Lela Pennington. They live in the Soo and have two children: Gerald and Joan. Gerald married Ina Winzer and they also live in the Soo with their four children: Debra, Wallace, Bonnie, and Lori. Joan married Clarence Wegner, Jr., and they live in Fayetteville, North Carolina. Their four children are Linda, Donna, Larry, and Pam.

Ray married Irene Pudelko. They live in Pickford and he is employed at Lipsett Chevrolet Garage. Their son, Raymond, married Judy Cabanough and they live in Muskegon with their twins, Steven and Sally.

Effie married Ivan Leach and they live in Pickford. They had six children: John, William, Lila, Ivana, Richard, and Duane. John married Ruth Finlan (deceased l972) and they have five children: Mike, Anna, Jesse, Joe, and Jerry. William married Karen Huyck and they live in Lennon with their three children: Duane, Joan, and Amy. Lila married Gary Williams. They live in Muskegon and have four children: Marty, Julie, Robin, and Todd. Ivana married Robert Jones and they live in Pickford with their three children: Robert, Jr., Pauline, and Roger. Richard married Judy Palmroy and they live in Muskegon. Their three children are Pattie, Faye, and Allan. Duane died in 1948 at five years of age.

Violet married Sam Cruickshank and they lived at Rockview until Sam's death in 1959. She then moved to Pickford. Their daughter, Theora, married Robert Bosley and they live in Stalwart. with their five children: Francis, Harris, Penny, Bobby, and Cheryl. Wanda married Vern Sawyers and they live in Donaldson with their three sons: Jeff, Steven, and Douglas. Diane married David Seward. They live in Texas where he is in the service and have one son, Billy. Donald is sailing and Debra graduated from Pickford High School in 1972.

Vern married Irene Rose and they live in Mt. Clemens. Their two children are Carol and Wayne.

Robert married Bertha Kramer and they live in Hessel. Their son, James, graduated from L.S.S.C. in 1972 and Ronald is in the service.

Dean married Mae Huyck and they live in Pickford. Their son, Larry, is a truck driver. Jerry graduated from Spring Arbor College in 1972 and married Cindy Porter. Bruce is at home. Dean works on construction jobs during the summer and does snow removal at Kincheloe Air Force Base during the winter.

WILLIAM married Clara Beacom in 1913 and moved to their farm two miles south, one mile west, and 1/4 mile south of Pickford which they spent their married life. William died February 20, 1941, and Mrs. Bawks died March 8, 1967. They had six children. Kenneth has been an employee of the Chippewa County Road Commission for the last 28 years. He married Edna Nettleton and they have three children. Wayne is in the construction business for himself in summer and forest products in winter and has a half-ownership in Bawks and Beacom construction. Two daughters, Ada and Adrianne are both at home. Ivan has been a construction worker at Kincheloe Air Force Base for the last 17 yeers and married Dorothy Leib. Their children are Barbara, Carol, David, Duane, and Dianne. Howard is self-employed as a construction worker and contractor. He married Doris Postma of Rudyard they have three children. William is also in the construction business working in partnership with his father and married to the former Joanne Huyck. Julia is studying nursing at Northern Michigan University. Cheryl is in high school. Lela married James E. Hill of Flint, Michigan. They have seven children: Robert is in the U. S. Marines; twin daughters, Shirley and Sharon, both work in Flint; Sandra is employed in Flint; Jim, Sharlene, and Kim attend Flint schools. This makes a total of 18 gianachildren for William and Clara Bawks. Two children, Glen and Ada, predeceased their parents.

GORDON married Sarah Kennedy. They had three children. Mac married Evelyn Jewel. Their son, Gary, is a music major at Northern Michigan University. Mac is presently married to the former Marion Wise and lives in Cedarville. Doris is married to Al Pollard and lives in Cedarville. They have two children, Neva and Elgin. Ferne (Mrs. James A. Stewart) of Port Huron, Michigan, has three children: Clark, John, and Jeanne Gayle.

ORVILLE married Della McDowell. They have two children. Alvin and his daughter, Aleta, live in California. His son, Charles, a graduate from Bob Jones University, is teaching in Florida. Mary (Mrs. Robert Howell) is Elementary Principal and 6th Grade teacher in Pickford Public Schools. Orville taught for 39 years in the Pickford area. Orville and Della celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary Aug. 21, 1971.

FRANK married May Lee and they have one son, Dale. He married Ardyth Wallis and they live on M-129 near 6 Mile Road with their children Roger, Rhonda, Joanie and Janet.

FORD married Margaret Patton. They have two children: Eldon of Brighton and Helen (Mrs. James Crisp).

BEACOM (DAVID AND ROBERT)

In 1880, Dave and Bob Beacom left their childhood home in Canada and rode the Old Mackinac to Jolly's Landing at Stirlingville. They just arrived here when Dave got sick and Bob sent him back to Canada to get well. You can imagine Bob's loneliness at being all along in a strange country. However, Dave recovered his health and acquired a bride, Louisa Green of Clinton, Ontario, and came back to this country to make his home. Later on Jennie and Lizzie Beacom followed their brothers to this country. Jennie became Mrs. James Stirling, but Lizzie remained a humorous old maid and resided with the Dave Beacoms until their deaths. John, Sarah, and Emma Beacom remained in Canada.

Dave's first home in this country was one mile south and two miles west of Pickford. He and Louisa had six children, five girls and one boy of whom two girls are still living. MRS. LOTTIE ROE is a widow and lives in Orlando, Florida. GRACE MAC LEAN is also a widow and lives in Santa Maria, California. ETTA ALLIASON, CORA GOUGH, AND FORD BEACOM are deceased. The farm was across the road ftom his brother Bob's farm.

After farming awhile, Dave moved to Pickford and lived over a warehouse where Gordon Bawks' house now stands. Several business adventures were to follow: Frank Taylor and Dave started operating a store at the location of the present bank. Then Mr. Taylor sold his interest to Fred Green, Dave's brother-in-law. About this time Dave decided he would rather be in the machinery business so Jim Stirling and he became partners in that business. Sometime later he sold his interest in the machinery business and helped to establish and operate the bank. He was still working in the bank until the time of his death at the age of 70 on Dec. 18, 1928. He was one of the first in Pickford to have an automobile, which was quite a novelty, about 1907.

FORD and Annabelle (Hessel) Beacom had three children: Marjorie, Kaye, and David. Marjorie Herman has two sons, Allen and Paul Blair, who live in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kaye Candler has three daughters, Cynthia, Pamela, and Susan, all at home in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan. David Beacom (deceased) and his wife, Myrtle (Mrs. Arthur Adam), had two sons, David Charles, II and Richard Brent. They both teach in Sault Area Public Schools. David and Carolyn (Toretta) have one son, David Charles, III. Richard and Sharon (Skinner) have a daughter, Kristin Kaye.

In 1880 Bob homesteaded 80 acres, 1 mile south, 2 miles west of Pickford on the north side of the now Blair Road. He began to clear his land using his team of horses he brought from Canada. He immediately built a log house. Margaret Jane Blair came from Ontario in 1881 and became Bob's bride In 1883. William Wise built a kitchen to the west side of the log house for the Beacoms. This house was dismantled in 1922 and replaced with a two story frame house. The Beacom's children were all born in the log house, Bob brought a threshing machine with him when he came from Ontario which was operated by horse power. He threshed many acres of grain for farmers in the area, and several years later bought a Port Huron machine which was steam operated. Disaster struck when this machine burned in the MacInnis barn when he was threshing there.

This union brought forth six children: HERBERT, OLIVER, MABEL, CLARA, ERNEST, and EVA. HERBERT married Nettie Nettleton and they had four children: Ruth married Bill Ames and had four children: Neva (Mrs. James Perry), Margaret (Mrs. Charles Izzard), both of Pickford; Velma (Mrs. James Graham) of Flushing, and William, Jr., of Pickford. Morris died as a young man. Rena married Ellsworth Lordson. Wallace married Jean McKinzie. The Lordsons had three sons and one daughter: Marion (Mrs. Jim Miller) and Melvin (Tony) both of Pickford; Allen and Robert, both of Petoskey. The Wallace Beacoms have six children: William of Rockview Road, Ann (Mrs. Ed Sara) and Marilyn (Mrs. Douglas Hunt) of Sault Ste. Marie: Ronald, Gary, and Terry at home. HERBERT now lives alone since his wife's death in 1970.

OLIVER married Lily Hillock and they are still living on their farm where their son, Clarence, also lives. They have six children: Marie, Leslie, Margaret, Clarence, James, and Vera. Marie married Ellwood Harrison and had one son, Lyle, now living in Lower Michigan. After Ellwood's accidental death in a shooting accident, she married Kenneth Smith, the television repair man in Pickford and they have one daughter, Rosa (Mrs. Roger Bennin). Leslie married Maude Alford and they live in Ripon, Wisconsin. They have four children: Marion, Carl, Jack, and Steven. Margaret married Ephraim Cottle and they live on their farm on the Town Line with their two sons, Donald and Gary. Clarence married Phyllis Thompson and they live on the home farm that they purchased form his father. They have two daughters and a son: Joyce (Mrs. Mike Cook) and Barbara, both living in Huntington, Indiana, and Francis at home. James married Alberta Waybrant and lives in Madison Heights. They have four daughters: Nancy, Linda, Peggy, and Beth. Vera married Lyle Jenks and lives in Sault Ste. Marie. They have three children: Cheryl, Laura, and Dennis.

MABEL was married to William Leach and they had five daughters and a son: Elwood, died at birth, Myrtle (Mrs. John Sterling), Edna (Mrs. Kenneth Harrison), Hazel (Mrs. Herman Gough), all of Pickford; Erma (Mrs. Grant Leach) and Alma Crawford, both of Sault Ste. Marie. MABLE died Nov. 6, 1963.

CLARA married William Bawks and they had six children. Glen and Ada died when very young. Ivan (Bill), with his wife, Dorothy, and children Barbara, Carol, Duane, David, and Dianne lives north of Pickford on a farm. Kenneth and his wife, Edna, live on a farm west of Pickford with their three children, Ada, Adrianne, and Wayne. Howard lives with his wife, Doris, and three children, Julia and Cheri, in Pickford. Their son Bill married Jo Ann Huyck and lives in Pickford. Lela married Jim Hill and lives with her husband and family in Flint. William, the father, died in 1941 when the family was quite small and CLARA died March 8, 1967.

ERNEST and EVA lived on the farm until 1965 when they moved to town. Neither of them ever married.

Bob Beacom died in March 1929, at the age of 74.